By September, Canberrans began to joke (despairingly) about the "snap seven-day lockdown" that had since lasted more than a month.
Hospitality workers adapted to take-away options while celebrating wins in the absence of dine-in customers.
Fathers across the territory were celebrated - albeit in hands-off, hug-free ways - as police and defence personnel worked to check entrants to the ACT border.
In politics, as elsewhere across the country, the recurring theme was 'change' and although not always for the better, Canberrans retained their sense of hope.
